Source: Severed arm may be from Bay Shore body

 A severed arm was found on the front lawn of a home in Hempstead Wednesday, and a source said authorities were trying to determine if it was related to a female body found Tuesday in Suffolk.

Hempstead police had blocked off part of Webb Avenue near Washington Avenue with yellow crime scene tape Wednesday afternoon. The Suffolk County police homicide commander, Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, was at a Webb Avenue home where detectives were seen going in and out.

The Nassau County police homicide squad was also on the scene. Police dogs were visible for a time at the scene on Webb Avenue.

Jose Diaz, 56, a deli owner who since 1989 has lived at the home where the arm was found, said his wife's brother, Noel Rivera, discovered what appeared to be a human arm in their front yard about 2 p.m. Wednesday and called 911.

Diaz said the arm was on a grass and dirt area just inside of a white picket fence lining the front of the property.

"He almost passed out," Diaz said, referring to Rivera.

Investigators removed the arm and an about-8-foot section of the fence, which had some blood on it, Diaz said.

Diaz said he does not have surveillance cameras outside his home, and while it was scary that a body part was found in his front yard, he was not surprised. "Anybody can pass by and drop anything," he said.

Neighbors expressed shock at the gruesome discovery.

"It's just shaken the whole community to see something like this," said Jim Allison, 32, a laborer who lives across the street.

Suffolk police confirmed its investigators were involved and said the body part was sent to the Nassau medical examiner's office.

Suffolk police had said Tuesday they were investigating the discovery of the partially dismembered, unidentified female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore. Beyrer had said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Police had no comment on the approximate age of the victim.

Beyrer said Tuesday that authorities were looking into missing-persons reports.

Suffolk police Tuesday were investigating the discovery of a "partially dismembered" female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore, and officials said they are looking into whether the case is related to the human remains found at Gilgo Beach in 2010 and 2011.

Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commander of the Suffolk homicide squad, said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Authorities said the body was found off a shortcut in a vacant lot leading from a municipal parking area used by ferry patrons near the corner of Maple Avenue and Gibson Street.

The discovery comes about 2 1/2 years after the latest remains were uncovered near Gilgo Beach in December 2011. Police have not connected the cases.

"There are no known links between the partially dismembered body found in Bay Shore today and the Gilgo Beach murders," Deputy Chief Kevin Fallon said through a spokesman Tuesday night. "However, in the interest of being thorough, Suffolk County Police Department canine units are conducting a search in the Gilgo Beach area. The investigation is continuing."

The mystery of who killed the 11 people whose remains were found at Gilgo Beach is unsolved.

A search for a missing woman led to the discovery beginning in December 2010 of 10 sets of remains off Ocean Parkway, including that of a toddler, a man dressed in women's clothing, and body parts belonging to remains found in Manorville in 2000 and 2003. Half of the remains found at Gilgo Beach have been identified. All five were young women working in the sex trade. An 11th set of remains was found in nearby Oak Beach.

Beyrer provided no other information on the Bay Shore case, such as the condition of the body or the approximate age of the victim.

The victim's identity was unknown late Tuesday and Beyrer said authorities are looking into missing-persons reports.

Police were seen combing the area, including searching commercial waste containers.

Earlier Tuesday, police said an autopsy will be performed by the Suffolk medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death.

It was unclear if an autopsy had been performed Tuesday.

Islip Town spokeswoman Patricia Kaloski said the case was a police matter and the town would cooperate in any way needed.

The area has several businesses along Gibson Street, which is a block south of West Main Street and about a half-mile from the Fire Island ferry. Maple, a residential street, leads to the ferry dock.

A Brooklyn man linked to one of the women found dead in the Gilgo Beach area pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he transported her to Long Island for prostitution.

Akeem Cruz, 22, admitted to Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak in federal court in Brooklyn that he took two women from Maine to Long Island several times from March 2009 until August 2010 to meet clients at local hotels.

While the women were identified in court only as "Jane Doe 4" and "Jane Doe 5," law enforcement officials said that Jane Doe 5 was Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine.

Waterman was reported missing in June 2010 and her body found that December along with the remains of three other prostitutes in thick brush along Ocean Parkway in the Gilgo Beach area. The bodies were wrapped in burlap.

A total of 10 sets of human remains have been found in connection with the Gilgo investigation. No arrests have been made.

According to a superseding indictment filed earlier in the case, officials said that Cruz and co-defendant Robert Blake posted ads on the Internet, including on Craigslist.com, to sell the sexual services of several women.

Cruz, who also goes by "Vybe" and "Mello," pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Mann Act, a federal law that prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution. He didn't admit in court to any involvement in Waterman's disappearance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Licha M. Nyiendo said Cruz faces a sentence of 37 months to 46 months under federal guidelines. There is also a potential fine of $250,000. No sentencing date was set. Cruz was taken into federal custody last year while he was being held on a drug case in Maine and is in a federal jail without bail.

His defense attorney, Susan Kellman, couldn't be reached for comment.

Waterman's mother, Lorraine Ela, was heartened by the news.

"I am glad he has been charged. He is the one who got her into it. He was the one who took her to New York and he was the last one to see her alive," Ela said Wednesday.

Blake is expected to go to trial later this year on sex trafficking and Mann Act charges. In the original criminal complaint filed against him in February 2011, FBI agents said that in August 2010 he had a woman and her 18-month-old child flown from Maine to New York. Blake then allegedly threatened the woman to force her to work as a prostitute at the JFK Inn near Kennedy Airport, according to the complaint.

Blake also took the woman shopping for sexy lingerie and shoes, then threatened her with potential loss of access to her child if she didn't repay him $1,000, according to the complaint.

A severed arm was found on the front lawn of a home in Hempstead Wednesday, and a source said authorities were trying to determine if it was related to a female body found Tuesday in Suffolk.

Hempstead police had blocked off part of Webb Avenue near Washington Avenue with yellow crime scene tape Wednesday afternoon. The Suffolk County police homicide commander, Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, was at a Webb Avenue home where detectives were seen going in and out.

The Nassau County police homicide squad was also on the scene. Police dogs were visible for a time at the scene on Webb Avenue.

Jose Diaz, 56, a deli owner who since 1989 has lived at the home where the arm was found, said his wife's brother, Noel Rivera, discovered what appeared to be a human arm in their front yard about 2 p.m. Wednesday and called 911.

Diaz said the arm was on a grass and dirt area just inside of a white picket fence lining the front of the property.

"He almost passed out," Diaz said, referring to Rivera.

Investigators removed the arm and an about-8-foot section of the fence, which had some blood on it, Diaz said.

Diaz said he does not have surveillance cameras outside his home, and while it was scary that a body part was found in his front yard, he was not surprised. "Anybody can pass by and drop anything," he said.

Neighbors expressed shock at the gruesome discovery.

"It's just shaken the whole community to see something like this," said Jim Allison, 32, a laborer who lives across the street.

Suffolk police confirmed its investigators were involved and said the body part was sent to the Nassau medical examiner's office.

Suffolk police had said Tuesday they were investigating the discovery of the partially dismembered, unidentified female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore. Beyrer had said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Police had no comment on the approximate age of the victim.

Beyrer said Tuesday that authorities were looking into missing-persons reports.

Suffolk police Tuesday were investigating the discovery of a "partially dismembered" female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore, and officials said they are looking into whether the case is related to the human remains found at Gilgo Beach in 2010 and 2011.

Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commander of the Suffolk homicide squad, said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Authorities said the body was found off a shortcut in a vacant lot leading from a municipal parking area used by ferry patrons near the corner of Maple Avenue and Gibson Street.

The discovery comes about 2 1/2 years after the latest remains were uncovered near Gilgo Beach in December 2011. Police have not connected the cases.

"There are no known links between the partially dismembered body found in Bay Shore today and the Gilgo Beach murders," Deputy Chief Kevin Fallon said through a spokesman Tuesday night. "However, in the interest of being thorough, Suffolk County Police Department canine units are conducting a search in the Gilgo Beach area. The investigation is continuing."

The mystery of who killed the 11 people whose remains were found at Gilgo Beach is unsolved.

A search for a missing woman led to the discovery beginning in December 2010 of 10 sets of remains off Ocean Parkway, including that of a toddler, a man dressed in women's clothing, and body parts belonging to remains found in Manorville in 2000 and 2003. Half of the remains found at Gilgo Beach have been identified. All five were young women working in the sex trade. An 11th set of remains was found in nearby Oak Beach.

Beyrer provided no other information on the Bay Shore case, such as the condition of the body or the approximate age of the victim.

The victim's identity was unknown late Tuesday and Beyrer said authorities are looking into missing-persons reports.

Police were seen combing the area, including searching commercial waste containers.

Earlier Tuesday, police said an autopsy will be performed by the Suffolk medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death.

It was unclear if an autopsy had been performed Tuesday.

Islip Town spokeswoman Patricia Kaloski said the case was a police matter and the town would cooperate in any way needed.

The area has several businesses along Gibson Street, which is a block south of West Main Street and about a half-mile from the Fire Island ferry. Maple, a residential street, leads to the ferry dock.

A Brooklyn man linked to one of the women found dead in the Gilgo Beach area pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he transported her to Long Island for prostitution.

Akeem Cruz, 22, admitted to Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak in federal court in Brooklyn that he took two women from Maine to Long Island several times from March 2009 until August 2010 to meet clients at local hotels.

While the women were identified in court only as "Jane Doe 4" and "Jane Doe 5," law enforcement officials said that Jane Doe 5 was Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough,Maine.

Waterman was reported missing in June 2010 and her body found that December along with the remains of three other prostitutes in thick brush along Ocean Parkway in the Gilgo Beach area. The bodies were wrapped in burlap.

A total of 10 sets of human remains have been found in connection with the Gilgo investigation. No arrests have been made.

According to a superseding indictment filed earlier in the case, officials said that Cruz and co-defendant Robert Blake posted ads on the Internet, including on Craigslist.com, to sell the sexual services of several women.

Cruz, who also goes by "Vybe" and "Mello," pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Mann Act, a federal law that prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution. He didn't admit in court to any involvement in Waterman's disappearance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Licha M. Nyiendo said Cruz faces a sentence of 37 months to 46 months under federal guidelines. There is also a potential fine of $250,000. No sentencing date was set. Cruz was taken into federal custody last year while he was being held on a drug case in Maine and is in a federal jail without bail.

His defense attorney, Susan Kellman, couldn't be reached for comment.

Waterman's mother, Lorraine Ela, was heartened by the news.

"I am glad he has been charged. He is the one who got her into it. He was the one who took her to New York and he was the last one to see her alive," Ela said Wednesday.

Blake is expected to go to trial later this year on sex trafficking and Mann Act charges. In the original criminal complaint filed against him in February 2011, FBI agents said that in August 2010 he had a woman and her 18-month-old child flown from Maine to New York. Blake then allegedly threatened the woman to force her to work as a prostitute at the JFK Inn nearKennedy Airport, according to the complaint.

Blake also took the woman shopping for sexy lingerie and shoes, then threatened her with potential loss of access to her child if she didn't repay him $1,000, according to the complaint.

A severed arm was found on the front lawn of a home in Hempstead Wednesday, and a source said authorities were trying to determine if it was related to a female body found Tuesday in Suffolk.

Hempstead police had blocked off part of Webb Avenue near Washington Avenue with yellow crime scene tape Wednesday afternoon. The Suffolk County police homicide commander, Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, was at a Webb Avenue home where detectives were seen going in and out.

The Nassau County police homicide squad was also on the scene. Police dogs were visible for a time at the scene on Webb Avenue.

Jose Diaz, 56, a deli owner who since 1989 has lived at the home where the arm was found, said his wife's brother, Noel Rivera, discovered what appeared to be a human arm in their front yard about 2 p.m. Wednesday and called 911.

Diaz said the arm was on a grass and dirt area just inside of a white picket fence lining the front of the property.

"He almost passed out," Diaz said, referring to Rivera.

Investigators removed the arm and an about-8-foot section of the fence, which had some blood on it, Diaz said.

Diaz said he does not have surveillance cameras outside his home, and while it was scary that a body part was found in his front yard, he was not surprised. "Anybody can pass by and drop anything," he said.

Neighbors expressed shock at the gruesome discovery.

"It's just shaken the whole community to see something like this," said Jim Allison, 32, a laborer who lives across the street.

Suffolk police confirmed its investigators were involved and said the body part was sent to the Nassau medical examiner's office.

Suffolk police had said Tuesday they were investigating the discovery of the partially dismembered, unidentified female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore. Beyrer had said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Police had no comment on the approximate age of the victim.

Beyrer said Tuesday that authorities were looking into missing-persons reports.

Suffolk police Tuesday were investigating the discovery of a "partially dismembered" female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore, and officials said they are looking into whether the case is related to the human remains found at Gilgo Beach in 2010 and 2011.

Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commander of the Suffolk homicide squad, said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Authorities said the body was found off a shortcut in a vacant lot leading from a municipal parking area used by ferry patrons near the corner of Maple Avenue and Gibson Street.

The discovery comes about 2 1/2 years after the latest remains were uncovered near Gilgo Beach in December 2011. Police have not connected the cases.

"There are no known links between the partially dismembered body found in Bay Shore today and the Gilgo Beach murders," Deputy Chief Kevin Fallon said through a spokesman Tuesday night. "However, in the interest of being thorough, Suffolk County Police Department canine units are conducting a search in the Gilgo Beach area. The investigation is continuing."

The mystery of who killed the 11 people whose remains were found at Gilgo Beach is unsolved.

A search for a missing woman led to the discovery beginning in December 2010 of 10 sets of remains off Ocean Parkway, including that of a toddler, a man dressed in women's clothing, and body parts belonging to remains found in Manorville in 2000 and 2003. Half of the remains found at Gilgo Beach have been identified. All five were young women working in the sex trade. An 11th set of remains was found in nearby Oak Beach.

Beyrer provided no other information on the Bay Shore case, such as the condition of the body or the approximate age of the victim.

The victim's identity was unknown late Tuesday and Beyrer said authorities are looking into missing-persons reports.

Police were seen combing the area, including searching commercial waste containers.

Earlier Tuesday, police said an autopsy will be performed by the Suffolk medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death.

It was unclear if an autopsy had been performed Tuesday.

Islip Town spokeswoman Patricia Kaloski said the case was a police matter and the town would cooperate in any way needed.

The area has several businesses along Gibson Street, which is a block south of West Main Street and about a half-mile from the Fire Island ferry. Maple, a residential street, leads to the ferry dock.

A Brooklyn man linked to one of the women found dead in the Gilgo Beach area pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he transported her to Long Island for prostitution.

Akeem Cruz, 22, admitted to Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak in federal court in Brooklyn that he took two women from Maine to Long Island several times from March 2009 until August 2010 to meet clients at local hotels.

While the women were identified in court only as "Jane Doe 4" and "Jane Doe 5," law enforcement officials said that Jane Doe 5 was Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough,Maine.

Waterman was reported missing in June 2010 and her body found that December along with the remains of three other prostitutes in thick brush along Ocean Parkway in the Gilgo Beach area. The bodies were wrapped in burlap.

A total of 10 sets of human remains have been found in connection with the Gilgo investigation. No arrests have been made.

According to a superseding indictment filed earlier in the case, officials said that Cruz and co-defendant Robert Blake posted ads on the Internet, including on Craigslist.com, to sell the sexual services of several women.

Cruz, who also goes by "Vybe" and "Mello," pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Mann Act, a federal law that prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution. He didn't admit in court to any involvement in Waterman's disappearance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Licha M. Nyiendo said Cruz faces a sentence of 37 months to 46 months under federal guidelines. There is also a potential fine of $250,000. No sentencing date was set. Cruz was taken into federal custody last year while he was being held on a drug case in Maine and is in a federal jail without bail.

His defense attorney, Susan Kellman, couldn't be reached for comment.

Waterman's mother, Lorraine Ela, was heartened by the news.

"I am glad he has been charged. He is the one who got her into it. He was the one who took her to New York and he was the last one to see her alive," Ela said Wednesday.

Blake is expected to go to trial later this year on sex trafficking and Mann Act charges. In the original criminal complaint filed against him in February 2011, FBI agents said that in August 2010 he had a woman and her 18-month-old child flown from Maine to New York. Blake then allegedly threatened the woman to force her to work as a prostitute at the JFK Inn nearKennedy Airport, according to the complaint.

Blake also took the woman shopping for sexy lingerie and shoes, then threatened her with potential loss of access to her child if she didn't repay him $1,000, according to the complaint.

A severed arm was found on the front lawn of a home in Hempstead Wednesday, and a source said authorities were trying to determine if it was related to a female body found Tuesday in Suffolk.

Hempstead police had blocked off part of Webb Avenue near Washington Avenue with yellow crime scene tape Wednesday afternoon. The Suffolk County police homicide commander, Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, was at a Webb Avenue home where detectives were seen going in and out.

The Nassau County police homicide squad was also on the scene. Police dogs were visible for a time at the scene on Webb Avenue.

Jose Diaz, 56, a deli owner who since 1989 has lived at the home where the arm was found, said his wife's brother, Noel Rivera, discovered what appeared to be a human arm in their front yard about 2 p.m. Wednesday and called 911.

Diaz said the arm was on a grass and dirt area just inside of a white picket fence lining the front of the property.

"He almost passed out," Diaz said, referring to Rivera.

Investigators removed the arm and an about-8-foot section of the fence, which had some blood on it, Diaz said.

Diaz said he does not have surveillance cameras outside his home, and while it was scary that a body part was found in his front yard, he was not surprised. "Anybody can pass by and drop anything," he said.

Neighbors expressed shock at the gruesome discovery.

"It's just shaken the whole community to see something like this," said Jim Allison, 32, a laborer who lives across the street.

Suffolk police confirmed its investigators were involved and said the body part was sent to the Nassau medical examiner's office.

Suffolk police had said Tuesday they were investigating the discovery of the partially dismembered, unidentified female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore. Beyrer had said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Police had no comment on the approximate age of the victim.

Beyrer said Tuesday that authorities were looking into missing-persons reports.

Suffolk police Tuesday were investigating the discovery of a "partially dismembered" female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore, and officials said they are looking into whether the case is related to the human remains found at Gilgo Beach in 2010 and 2011.

Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commander of the Suffolk homicide squad, said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Authorities said the body was found off a shortcut in a vacant lot leading from a municipal parking area used by ferry patrons near the corner of Maple Avenue and Gibson Street.

The discovery comes about 2 1/2 years after the latest remains were uncovered near Gilgo Beach in December 2011. Police have not connected the cases.

"There are no known links between the partially dismembered body found in Bay Shore today and the Gilgo Beach murders," Deputy Chief Kevin Fallon said through a spokesman Tuesday night. "However, in the interest of being thorough, Suffolk County Police Department canine units are conducting a search in the Gilgo Beach area. The investigation is continuing."

The mystery of who killed the 11 people whose remains were found at Gilgo Beach is unsolved.

A search for a missing woman led to the discovery beginning in December 2010 of 10 sets of remains off Ocean Parkway, including that of a toddler, a man dressed in women's clothing, and body parts belonging to remains found in Manorville in 2000 and 2003. Half of the remains found at Gilgo Beach have been identified. All five were young women working in the sex trade. An 11th set of remains was found in nearby Oak Beach.

Beyrer provided no other information on the Bay Shore case, such as the condition of the body or the approximate age of the victim.

The victim's identity was unknown late Tuesday and Beyrer said authorities are looking into missing-persons reports.

Police were seen combing the area, including searching commercial waste containers.

Earlier Tuesday, police said an autopsy will be performed by the Suffolk medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death.

It was unclear if an autopsy had been performed Tuesday.

Islip Town spokeswoman Patricia Kaloski said the case was a police matter and the town would cooperate in any way needed.

The area has several businesses along Gibson Street, which is a block south of West Main Street and about a half-mile from the Fire Island ferry. Maple, a residential street, leads to the ferry dock.

A Brooklyn man linked to one of the women found dead in the Gilgo Beach area pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he transported her to Long Island for prostitution.

Akeem Cruz, 22, admitted to Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak in federal court in Brooklyn that he took two women from Maine to Long Island several times from March 2009 until August 2010 to meet clients at local hotels.

While the women were identified in court only as "Jane Doe 4" and "Jane Doe 5," law enforcement officials said that Jane Doe 5 was Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough,Maine.

Waterman was reported missing in June 2010 and her body found that December along with the remains of three other prostitutes in thick brush along Ocean Parkway in the Gilgo Beach area. The bodies were wrapped in burlap.

A total of 10 sets of human remains have been found in connection with the Gilgo investigation. No arrests have been made.

According to a superseding indictment filed earlier in the case, officials said that Cruz and co-defendant Robert Blake posted ads on the Internet, including on Craigslist.com, to sell the sexual services of several women.

Cruz, who also goes by "Vybe" and "Mello," pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Mann Act, a federal law that prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution. He didn't admit in court to any involvement in Waterman's disappearance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Licha M. Nyiendo said Cruz faces a sentence of 37 months to 46 months under federal guidelines. There is also a potential fine of $250,000. No sentencing date was set. Cruz was taken into federal custody last year while he was being held on a drug case in Maine and is in a federal jail without bail.

His defense attorney, Susan Kellman, couldn't be reached for comment.

Waterman's mother, Lorraine Ela, was heartened by the news.

"I am glad he has been charged. He is the one who got her into it. He was the one who took her to New York and he was the last one to see her alive," Ela said Wednesday.

Blake is expected to go to trial later this year on sex trafficking and Mann Act charges. In the original criminal complaint filed against him in February 2011, FBI agents said that in August 2010 he had a woman and her 18-month-old child flown from Maine to New York. Blake then allegedly threatened the woman to force her to work as a prostitute at the JFK Inn nearKennedy Airport, according to the complaint.

Blake also took the woman shopping for sexy lingerie and shoes, then threatened her with potential loss of access to her child if she didn't repay him $1,000, according to the complaint.

A severed arm was found on the front lawn of a home in Hempstead Wednesday, and a source said authorities were trying to determine if it was related to a female body found Tuesday in Suffolk.

Hempstead police had blocked off part of Webb Avenue near Washington Avenue with yellow crime scene tape Wednesday afternoon. The Suffolk County police homicide commander, Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, was at a Webb Avenue home where detectives were seen going in and out.

The Nassau County police homicide squad was also on the scene. Police dogs were visible for a time at the scene on Webb Avenue.

Jose Diaz, 56, a deli owner who since 1989 has lived at the home where the arm was found, said his wife's brother, Noel Rivera, discovered what appeared to be a human arm in their front yard about 2 p.m. Wednesday and called 911.

Diaz said the arm was on a grass and dirt area just inside of a white picket fence lining the front of the property.

"He almost passed out," Diaz said, referring to Rivera.

Investigators removed the arm and an about-8-foot section of the fence, which had some blood on it, Diaz said.

Diaz said he does not have surveillance cameras outside his home, and while it was scary that a body part was found in his front yard, he was not surprised. "Anybody can pass by and drop anything," he said.

Neighbors expressed shock at the gruesome discovery.

"It's just shaken the whole community to see something like this," said Jim Allison, 32, a laborer who lives across the street.

Suffolk police confirmed its investigators were involved and said the body part was sent to the Nassau medical examiner's office.

Suffolk police had said Tuesday they were investigating the discovery of the partially dismembered, unidentified female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore. Beyrer had said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Police had no comment on the approximate age of the victim.

Beyrer said Tuesday that authorities were looking into missing-persons reports.

Suffolk police Tuesday were investigating the discovery of a "partially dismembered" female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore, and officials said they are looking into whether the case is related to the human remains found at Gilgo Beach in 2010 and 2011.

Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commander of the Suffolk homicide squad, said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Authorities said the body was found off a shortcut in a vacant lot leading from a municipal parking area used by ferry patrons near the corner of Maple Avenue and Gibson Street.

The discovery comes about 2 1/2 years after the latest remains were uncovered near Gilgo Beach in December 2011. Police have not connected the cases.

"There are no known links between the partially dismembered body found in Bay Shore today and the Gilgo Beach murders," Deputy Chief Kevin Fallon said through a spokesman Tuesday night. "However, in the interest of being thorough, Suffolk County Police Department canine units are conducting a search in the Gilgo Beach area. The investigation is continuing."

The mystery of who killed the 11 people whose remains were found at Gilgo Beach is unsolved.

A search for a missing woman led to the discovery beginning in December 2010 of 10 sets of remains off Ocean Parkway, including that of a toddler, a man dressed in women's clothing, and body parts belonging to remains found in Manorville in 2000 and 2003. Half of the remains found at Gilgo Beach have been identified. All five were young women working in the sex trade. An 11th set of remains was found in nearby Oak Beach.

Beyrer provided no other information on the Bay Shore case, such as the condition of the body or the approximate age of the victim.

The victim's identity was unknown late Tuesday and Beyrer said authorities are looking into missing-persons reports.

Police were seen combing the area, including searching commercial waste containers.

Earlier Tuesday, police said an autopsy will be performed by the Suffolk medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death.

It was unclear if an autopsy had been performed Tuesday.

Islip Town spokeswoman Patricia Kaloski said the case was a police matter and the town would cooperate in any way needed.

The area has several businesses along Gibson Street, which is a block south of West Main Street and about a half-mile from the Fire Island ferry. Maple, a residential street, leads to the ferry dock.

A Brooklyn man linked to one of the women found dead in the Gilgo Beach area pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he transported her to Long Island for prostitution.

Akeem Cruz, 22, admitted to Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak in federal court in Brooklyn that he took two women from Maine to Long Island several times from March 2009 until August 2010 to meet clients at local hotels.

While the women were identified in court only as "Jane Doe 4" and "Jane Doe 5," law enforcement officials said that Jane Doe 5 was Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough,Maine.

Waterman was reported missing in June 2010 and her body found that December along with the remains of three other prostitutes in thick brush along Ocean Parkway in the Gilgo Beach area. The bodies were wrapped in burlap.

A total of 10 sets of human remains have been found in connection with the Gilgo investigation. No arrests have been made.

According to a superseding indictment filed earlier in the case, officials said that Cruz and co-defendant Robert Blake posted ads on the Internet, including on Craigslist.com, to sell the sexual services of several women.

Cruz, who also goes by "Vybe" and "Mello," pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Mann Act, a federal law that prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution. He didn't admit in court to any involvement in Waterman's disappearance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Licha M. Nyiendo said Cruz faces a sentence of 37 months to 46 months under federal guidelines. There is also a potential fine of $250,000. No sentencing date was set. Cruz was taken into federal custody last year while he was being held on a drug case in Maine and is in a federal jail without bail.

His defense attorney, Susan Kellman, couldn't be reached for comment.

Waterman's mother, Lorraine Ela, was heartened by the news.

"I am glad he has been charged. He is the one who got her into it. He was the one who took her to New York and he was the last one to see her alive," Ela said Wednesday.

Blake is expected to go to trial later this year on sex trafficking and Mann Act charges. In the original criminal complaint filed against him in February 2011, FBI agents said that in August 2010 he had a woman and her 18-month-old child flown from Maine to New York. Blake then allegedly threatened the woman to force her to work as a prostitute at the JFK Inn nearKennedy Airport, according to the complaint.

Blake also took the woman shopping for sexy lingerie and shoes, then threatened her with potential loss of access to her child if she didn't repay him $1,000, according to the complaint.

A severed arm was found on the front lawn of a home in Hempstead Wednesday, and a source said authorities were trying to determine if it was related to a female body found Tuesday in Suffolk.

Hempstead police had blocked off part of Webb Avenue near Washington Avenue with yellow crime scene tape Wednesday afternoon. The Suffolk County police homicide commander, Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, was at a Webb Avenue home where detectives were seen going in and out.

The Nassau County police homicide squad was also on the scene. Police dogs were visible for a time at the scene on Webb Avenue.

Jose Diaz, 56, a deli owner who since 1989 has lived at the home where the arm was found, said his wife's brother, Noel Rivera, discovered what appeared to be a human arm in their front yard about 2 p.m. Wednesday and called 911.

Diaz said the arm was on a grass and dirt area just inside of a white picket fence lining the front of the property.

"He almost passed out," Diaz said, referring to Rivera.

Investigators removed the arm and an about-8-foot section of the fence, which had some blood on it, Diaz said.

Diaz said he does not have surveillance cameras outside his home, and while it was scary that a body part was found in his front yard, he was not surprised. "Anybody can pass by and drop anything," he said.

Neighbors expressed shock at the gruesome discovery.

"It's just shaken the whole community to see something like this," said Jim Allison, 32, a laborer who lives across the street.

Suffolk police confirmed its investigators were involved and said the body part was sent to the Nassau medical examiner's office.

Suffolk police had said Tuesday they were investigating the discovery of the partially dismembered, unidentified female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore. Beyrer had said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Police had no comment on the approximate age of the victim.

Beyrer said Tuesday that authorities were looking into missing-persons reports.

Suffolk police Tuesday were investigating the discovery of a "partially dismembered" female body in a weed-strewn lot in Bay Shore, and officials said they are looking into whether the case is related to the human remains found at Gilgo Beach in 2010 and 2011.

Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commander of the Suffolk homicide squad, said two passersby called police after seeing the body as they walked to the Fire Island Ferries about 6:50 a.m.

Authorities said the body was found off a shortcut in a vacant lot leading from a municipal parking area used by ferry patrons near the corner of Maple Avenue and Gibson Street.

The discovery comes about 2 1/2 years after the latest remains were uncovered near Gilgo Beach in December 2011. Police have not connected the cases.

"There are no known links between the partially dismembered body found in Bay Shore today and the Gilgo Beach murders," Deputy Chief Kevin Fallon said through a spokesman Tuesday night. "However, in the interest of being thorough, Suffolk County Police Department canine units are conducting a search in the Gilgo Beach area. The investigation is continuing."

The mystery of who killed the 11 people whose remains were found at Gilgo Beach is unsolved.

A search for a missing woman led to the discovery beginning in December 2010 of 10 sets of remains off Ocean Parkway, including that of a toddler, a man dressed in women's clothing, and body parts belonging to remains found in Manorville in 2000 and 2003. Half of the remains found at Gilgo Beach have been identified. All five were young women working in the sex trade. An 11th set of remains was found in nearby Oak Beach.

Beyrer provided no other information on the Bay Shore case, such as the condition of the body or the approximate age of the victim.

The victim's identity was unknown late Tuesday and Beyrer said authorities are looking into missing-persons reports.

Police were seen combing the area, including searching commercial waste containers.

Earlier Tuesday, police said an autopsy will be performed by the Suffolk medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death.

It was unclear if an autopsy had been performed Tuesday.

Islip Town spokeswoman Patricia Kaloski said the case was a police matter and the town would cooperate in any way needed.

The area has several businesses along Gibson Street, which is a block south of West Main Street and about a half-mile from the Fire Island ferry. Maple, a residential street, leads to the ferry dock.

A Brooklyn man linked to one of the women found dead in the Gilgo Beach area pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he transported her to Long Island for prostitution.

Akeem Cruz, 22, admitted to Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak in federal court in Brooklyn that he took two women from Maine to Long Island several times from March 2009 until August 2010 to meet clients at local hotels.

While the women were identified in court only as "Jane Doe 4" and "Jane Doe 5," law enforcement officials said that Jane Doe 5 was Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough,Maine.

Waterman was reported missing in June 2010 and her body found that December along with the remains of three other prostitutes in thick brush along Ocean Parkway in the Gilgo Beach area. The bodies were wrapped in burlap.

A total of 10 sets of human remains have been found in connection with the Gilgo investigation. No arrests have been made.

According to a superseding indictment filed earlier in the case, officials said that Cruz and co-defendant Robert Blake posted ads on the Internet, including on Craigslist.com, to sell the sexual services of several women.

Cruz, who also goes by "Vybe" and "Mello," pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Mann Act, a federal law that prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution. He didn't admit in court to any involvement in Waterman's disappearance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Licha M. Nyiendo said Cruz faces a sentence of 37 months to 46 months under federal guidelines. There is also a potential fine of $250,000. No sentencing date was set. Cruz was taken into federal custody last year while he was being held on a drug case in Maine and is in a federal jail without bail.

His defense attorney, Susan Kellman, couldn't be reached for comment.

Waterman's mother, Lorraine Ela, was heartened by the news.

"I am glad he has been charged. He is the one who got her into it. He was the one who took her to New York and he was the last one to see her alive," Ela said Wednesday.

Blake is expected to go to trial later this year on sex trafficking and Mann Act charges. In the original criminal complaint filed against him in February 2011, FBI agents said that in August 2010 he had a woman and her 18-month-old child flown from Maine to New York. Blake then allegedly threatened the woman to force her to work as a prostitute at the JFK Inn nearKennedy Airport, according to the complaint.

Blake also took the woman shopping for sexy lingerie and shoes, then threatened her with potential loss of access to her child if she didn't repay him $1,000, according to the complaint.